You may have noticed that we're now giving you the option of watching some YouTube videos in higher quality. We're making these streams available on certain videos, based upon the source file uploaded to us, and over time you'll find a greater percentage of the library is available to view in higher quality. This feature applies to all eligible videos uploaded from the YouTube community, and is not restricted to partner content, so everyone can enjoy this upgrade.

How do you watch higher quality videos? On your Account page you're now able to choose "always show me higher quality when available" or "never show me higher quality." We suggest you select "always show me..." only if you have a fast internet connection, otherwise you might find that videos don't play as quickly or smoothly as you're used to. Higher quality videos also have a link right below the video player which will allow you to select between the normal or higher quality settings.

We want to help everyone understand that YouTube will continue to evolve with the videos you're creating. We're especially excited about offering this upgrade in video quality to our community of filmmakers and animators, who have been requesting this feature for some time. As more of you guys produce great-looking videos, we want to make sure they can be seen in all their glory. So we'll continue to increase quality behind the scenes and make tweaks to support your uploads. (Remember, we can now support uploads up to 1GB in size.)

You may also wonder how video quality is chosen. Our general philosophy is to make sure that as many people as possible can access YouTube and that videos start quickly and play smoothly. That's one reason why you don't see us racing to call this "Super Duper YouTube HD," because most people don't want to wait a long time for videos to play.

33 comments
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YOU TUBE is great. But why the hell are you removing so many video clips about Tibet at the Moment? Is it for the same reason that your parent company made the deal with the Chinese communist government over access restrictions?

liking the choice of watching vids in highr quality (and I ain't just saying that cos my first ever fan-made video is in 'HD' :P ) But it's good people can alternate, cos not everyone's fortunate enough for broadband or whatever :)

There are some problems here:1. Members can set their default to 'always show videos in the Highest available quality' but none members get standard quality by default and there's no where on the page that tells them what the quality button does, in fact they maybe not aware that there is a choice.2.If you embed a player on a website youcan't embed the Quality button so embedded players will only show standard quality.3.If you upload a larger file so that it can be used for High Quality the Standard Quality seems to be not as good as it was because of compression done by You Tube rather than us trying to get the best picture possible under 100mb.

My suggestions to get over these are to tell people on the viewer page about the Quality button, to enable the button's availability in an embedded player.Would it also be possible that the default for everyone was High Quality with the ability to switch to Standard if necessary.

There are some problems here:1. Members can set their default to 'always show videos in the Highest available quality' but none members get standard quality by default and there's no where on the page that tells them what the quality button does, in fact they maybe not aware that there is a choice.2.If you embed a player on a website youcan't embed the Quality button so embedded players will only show standard quality.3.If you upload a larger file so that it can be used for High Quality the Standard Quality seems to be not as good as it was because of compression done by You Tube rather than us trying to get the best picture possible under 100mb.

My suggestions to get over these are to tell people on the viewer page about the Quality button, to enable the button's availability in an embedded player.Would it also be possible that the default for everyone was High Quality with the ability to switch to Standard if necessary.

The latest update is much better with the TV icon quality button replaced with text so that visitors know they can watch in higher quality, Thank you. I still think the default should be 'High' and I've found that the download is faster in 'High' than 'Standard'?We still have the problem with embedded players,like above HERE with Charles keep telling us to 'click for Higher quality' but it aint there.

There are some problems here: 1. Members can set their default to 'always show videos in the Highest available quality' but none members get standard quality by default and there's no where on the page that tells them what the quality button does, in fact they maybe not aware that there is a choice. 2.If you embed a player on a website you can't embed the Quality button so embedded players will only show standard quality. 3.If you upload a larger file so that it can be used for High Quality the Standard Quality seems to be not as good as it was because of compression done by You Tube rather than us trying to get the best picture possible under 100mb. My suggestions to get over these are to tell people on the viewer page about the Quality button, to enable the button's availability in an embedded player. Would it also be possible that the default for everyone was High Quality with the ability to switch to Standard if necessary.

Since the High Quality option has been available I can no longer load or view standard quality at all. Also the YouTube Beta say "sorry this video is not available" every time I try to use it. Can you tell me where I am going wrong, if any.

I am still having the problem of not being able to watch any video that is not High Quality. Still no joy with the Beta. I have been contacted by others with the same problem. Is there anyone out there who knows what the problem is?

Hey, I've tried uploading in MP4 h.264 at 1280x720 (level 5.1) and also WMV encoded with Windows Media Encoder - my videos have shown up, but only in low def. How long does it take for a video to work in HD? Adding fmt=22 doesn't work and there's no link under the videos. :(